WINNEBAGO — The day after Halloween, No. 1 seed and No. 2-ranked Winnebago got a good scare in the first half of its Class 3A state-playoff opener against 16th-seeded Peru St. Bede.

The Indians’ defense stiffened down the stretch, however, and back-to-back, fourth-quarter interceptions from senior defensive back Zack Beck helped spark a 34-25 first-round victory Friday that kept Winnebago undefeated — and undeterred.

“This one was getting away from us, but we felt we were going to get it back,” said Beck, who has four interceptions and a fumble recovery, all during second halves of close games. “Some of the guys started calling me ‘Mr. Clutch’ after this, which sounds just fine with me. I want to be able to come through for my team in the clutch.”

He did Friday night. St. Bede (5-5) charged out to a 19-15 lead in the second quarter and made it stick until halftime as quarterback Jack Brady threw for 162 yards in the first half. He finished with 247 yards through the air, and Bruins halfback Justin Shaw added 136 yards on the ground.

But Winnebago’s defense made plays when it had to in the second half.

The Indians got 98 yards rushing from Sean Ward and 91 from Nolan Peterson, and their defense forced three second-half turnovers while stuffing St. Bede on downs three times in the final two quarters. A 57-yard touchdown run by Peterson midway through the third quarter and his 19-yard scoring sprint less than three minutes later stole the momentum away from the Bruins for good.

“I knew we needed some big plays to break this thing open. We needed a couple of those plays that really get a defense down, and the line gave me some holes to do it with,” said Peterson, who also had eight tackles and three passes defensed from his defensive-back position. “We knew they’d be good, and we knew we’d have to cover them as hard as we could. Once we switched the momentum on them, though, we weren’t going to give it back.”

The Indians will now wait and see who and where they will play next week, which will be determined by today’s game between No. 8-seeded (and sixth-ranked) Kankakee McNamara and No. 9 Chicago Harper.

No matter who they play next, head coach Mark Helm expects his team to come out ready — next time.

“In that first half, St. Bede was ready to play, we weren’t,” Helm said. “I don’t know if the emotional win from last week affected us or what, but I told them, this won’t do anymore.”